A jargon-free journey through the world of social media.

Chrome

September 08, 2010

Big announcement from Google today as the search juggernaut reveals its new real-time results on Google.com. As you type, results appear automatically below the search bar, so you can more quickly find what you're looking for.

Google Instant is being rolled out as we speak, so in case it's still not working for you, check out this video introduction:

According to The New York Times, Google has estimated that its new results will shave 2-6 seconds off each search. That's a cumulative 3.5 billion seconds — or nearly 1 million hours — saved per day.

I'll especially be curious to see how this new approach is incorporated into Web browsers and Google mobile apps. From the company's statements today, it sounds like we'll find out in the coming months.

So what do you think? Impressed with the new results? Find it too distracting?

And most importantly, got any ideas on how the world should use those 1 million salvaged hours each day?

January 23, 2010

Throughout January, The Social Path is running daily tips on how to improve your social life — online, at least. Click here to learn more.

As you can see from the chart above, courtesy of StatOwl.com, Microsoft's Internet Explorer is still the overwhelmingly dominant player in the Web browser market.

That's why I feel it's worth taking the time to say — despite the fact I'm probably preaching to the choir — that if you haven't already, you need to switch to Firefox or Google Chrome.

I'm not a Microsoft hater. Internet Explorer is a perfectly fine Web browser, one that you can use for years without feeling like you're missing a thing.

But once you've experienced the customizable joy and social flexibility of a browser like Firefox, you'll never look back. (I'm also a big fan of Chrome, which I find to be lightning fast and intuitive, but I'll be devoting most of my attention in this post to my true love, Firefox.)

Thanks to its thousands of available plug-ins, Firefox redefined the Web browser into — well, whatever you want it to be. Sure, Internet Explorer has done its best to keep pace, but I simply don't believe you can beat the crowdsourced innovation built into an open-source juggernaut like Firefox.

If there's one social media trend you can bank on in 2010, it's the fact that people are looking for ways to tame the rivers of data and make sense of all the real-time information at our disposal. With so many options for social networking, bookmarking and chatting, Firefox has become an indispensable hub of my online life.

I'm far from being a Firefox power user, but when I'm forced to use IE or Safari, I quickly miss even the small number of plug-ins I have installed at home and work.

I could go on for quite a while longer, but you get the idea. Imagine if I had to go to a specific site or application just to do each of these tasks. It would be cumbersome to the point of discouragement.

Which gets to my real motivation for this post. I'm a firm believer that social media will never feel like a comfortable part of your life until you find ways to roll it smoothly into your daily routine. Since you know you're going to browse the Web, why not use a browser that puts so many resources in one place?

If you're not a Firefox or Chrome user, I'd love to hear what's held you back in the comments. If you are a fellow convert, please share some of the plug-ins that have made the new generation of browsers especially handy to you.